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Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Maybe, move to a cave.
Or, ".... sit in the corner and drink copious quantities of wine . . ."

Speaking of which, I had a great bottle of Spanish Tempranillo at Vuela Vuela, the Los Arcos hotel restaurant.
They had a short but satisfying wine list.
Barbecued pork rib, freshly cut salad for,, $8.50
Wine was $25
I hesitate to order wine in Nicaragua because it it generally sitting on a shelf, in the sun, aging harshly.

This great internet I'm suddenly blessed with is turning out to be a mixed blessing . . ...

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Disagreement is the very strength of democracy. It's good for people to think.

Orlando, and Boston too, can be thankful the perps weren't packing nukes. Not so readily available, otherwise . . . And we can all be thankful that these individuals are lone nut cases, lacking supply lines to terrorist organization, for then they'd have liquified phosgene, nitroglycerine, &c.

It would seem that even Trump is surprised at how far his New York buffoonery has taken him. I'd heard that it was Bill Clinton who urged him to run for president in 2015. (Trump was a Democrat from 2001 to 2009 and said he admires Bill Clinton over the Bushes.) Rumor has it he's a set-up to insure the coronation of Hillary (whose election will deliver a true two-fer.)

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Originally Posted by Daddy-YO

Disagreement is the very strength of democracy. It's good for people to think.

Orlando, and Boston too, can be thankful the perps weren't packing nukes. Not so readily available, otherwise . . . And we can all be thankful that these individuals are lone nut cases, lacking supply lines to terrorist organization, for then they'd have liquified phosgene, nitroglycerine, &c.

It would seem that even Trump is surprised at how far his New York buffoonery has taken him. I'd heard that it was Bill Clinton who urged him to run for president in 2015. (Trump was a Democrat from 2001 to 2009 and said he admires Bill Clinton over the Bushes.) Rumor has it he's a set-up to insure the coronation of Hillary (whose election will deliver a true two-fer.)

Not just Trump is surprised . . Count me in. Does he have a method behind his madness? How can he be so close to Hillary in the polls? Another Orlando and he might make it, despite the dizzying array of forces mobilized against him, from both sides.

The thing is, this is not supposed to be a horse race . . The track IS a mess, and that mudder might just find his stride.

I expected more nasty invective. The Clintons have such interesting baggage that they are natural targets. Some ideas for the Donald:

I Will Never Lie To You
Mr Trump looks directly into the camera and states:

" I will never lie to you. Not about my uncle Edmund, coming into Bosnia under fire, that tragic mis-adventure in Libya, my husbands girlfriends, Or Any Thing else. Interspersed with clips of Hillary's whoppers.

The Predator In Chief
This spot would have to be produced by a PAC so Trump could disavow responsibility.
Basically, it would be screenshots of Bill's conquests, willing and not, over the years, with a voice over talking about how:

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Speaking of elections ...... just when I thought it could not get more corrupt.....Ortega is running unopposed? Supreme Court made sure of the by refusing to let Montelegre run...... Ahhhh JUSTICE....You get what you pay for.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Originally Posted by Little Corn Tom

Speaking of elections ...... just when I thought it could not get more corrupt.....Ortega is running unopposed? Supreme Court made sure of the by refusing to let Montelegre run...... Ahhhh JUSTICE....You get what you pay for.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Further they note, Comandante Daniel Ortega also buried independent observation of the elections.

Hey, but he's SO popular. As a BENIGN dictator, he has a role to play, much as did Chavez & Somoza, which only goes to hell when the next of kin (or the chosen jerk) takes over.

Yes, Ortega IS popular.
And so is the Chamuka. Both she and those trees are as ugly as hell, but the people dote on her every word as divinely inspired gospel.

Nicaragua is moving forward, prosperity in the cities, getting tough to drive in Estelí because of all the newbies buying cars, and trying to learn to drive AND park. Take a $200 driving school, and the school handles all the license "tramites". Most don't spend the money.

Krisnia just got her license, they waived the practical, she gave a (very) small gift to the examiner, told him that the Gringo she lives with is teaching her to drive his car, and he certified her for all three categories. She still has to do vision, blood, and psychiatric (supposedly today), but it's a done deal.
Like any US 17 year old with her first license, she's walking on clouds. Some things are truly universal.

A lot of positive things happening, just look at the town square in Estelí. Impressive. Condega's got a big facelift as well.

More money in the campo too, higher granos basicos and bean prices are transferring some of the city wealth to the countryside.
Campesinos have the odd coin to jingle, more drunks on the roads on Sunday

All of which begs the question: Why is DO bothering? He's going to win regardless, and it would look better to the international community if he had an opposition candidate that garnered some respectable number of votes.
He could have both the respect and the power.

Some history there, I understand, (OK, a LOT of history, including an abused step daughter who is still ticking).

DO has the court, CSE, legislature, in his back pocket, doesn't need to play a heavy hand.

With close to $1 billion in remittances (not all from the US true, some from CR and Spain); and 30% of its oil now coming from the US, AND about 40% of its trade now with the US, Ortega needs to climb the fence, graze on the other side. He and Trump should get along fine.

He'll always owe allegiance to Castro, Fidel got him the job, but Fidel isn't here much longer. The new regime in Venezuela is NOT going to be Chavista: Nicaragua doesn't have to worry, they were probably one of the few countries to get paid for their exports to Venezuela (in oil or debt offset, probably),,,

but Cuba should probably be thinking about building a Disney World, and sub-dividing the country for expat retirees.
Otherwise, they could become the new Venezuela, but without the oil.
It's a brave new world.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Originally Posted by KeyWestPirate

Yes, Ortega IS popular.
And so is the Chamuka.

Indeed, she is the key to his popularity. She is attuned to the people, poor people. Subsidies for electricity, cheap solidarity beans, a revamped Social Security that pays the less fortunate on time, 'free' health care, housing, more are educated & have access to internet, . . . We can laugh at her flashy 'trees of life', but they're her signature writ large, reminders like cathedrals of (her/the) power & benevolence (of the Big Guy in the sky).

Originally Posted by KeyWestPirate

All of which begs the question: Why is DO bothering? He's going to win regardless, . . . Some history there, I understand,

Right. 1990 & Violeta Chamorro. The Sandi's & pollsters thought DO was a shoe-in. Wrong. Never underestimate how easy it is to hate DO.

Originally Posted by KeyWestPirate

With close to $1 billion in remittances

Now at $1.2 billion, 9.1% of GDP, increasing at more than 5% each of the past few years. I would guess they also count what gringo expats spend here from US accounts.

Look no further than Pellas, Nicaragua's primo capitalist, as to why, of all the ALBA countries, Nicaragua is prospering. Like the Chinese Communist Party, they recognized early the value of raw capitalism. (But can they tame the tiger or will they become cat-food too?)

Originally Posted by KeyWestPirate

He and Trump should get along fine.

Depends on how much the Donald listens to old school conservatives. More than a few would like to see this 'former' communist lynched.

Originally Posted by KeyWestPirate

Cuba should probably be thinking about building a Disney World,

True Orlando now has a stain. But too many gringo developers with other ideas are there ahead of the Cubans.

Originally Posted by KeyWestPirate

Otherwise, they could become the new Venezuela, ...

I thought the Cubans were orchestrating the whole starve-the-fat-Venezuelans-until-they-cry-socialism thing or to provoke a US-led invasion to alarm leftist Latin America (& confirm their suspicions). But leftist Latin America has vaporized in the last few years. And the Cubans were tired of doing without, so they cried 'Pope'.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

$1.2 billion, 9.1% of GDP

Take note, that 9.1% of the Nicaraguan economy is other countries' economies. In other words, Nicaragua itself has a shortfall of $1.2billion in its own economy, a gaping hole that shows that the country is still really a basket case propped up by people who gave up on it and skedaddled. That's not something to brag about.

I read that Disney World China has the challenge that the Chinese people have no clue who all those costumed characters are. They have no cultural history of all those princess stories, all the stories based on Grimm's and Andersen's fairy tales, mice, ducks, and Br'er Rabbit.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Originally Posted by Jonh

Take note, that 9.1% of the Nicaraguan economy is other countries' economies. In other words, Nicaragua itself has a shortfall of $1.2billion in its own economy, a gaping hole that shows that the country is still really a basket case propped up by people who gave up on it and skedaddled. That's not something to brag about.

I read that Disney World China has the challenge that the Chinese people have no clue who all those costumed characters are. They have no cultural history of all those princess stories, all the stories based on Grimm's and Andersen's fairy tales, mice, ducks, and Br'er Rabbit.

Once again your eyesight is 20/20.... But This whole thread has been quite interesting to me....

To be called a "Has Been" I must surmise, is much Greater than to be called a "Nevah Been"... JW...

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

" . . . .Krisnia just got her license, they waived the practical, she gave a (very) small gift to the examiner, told him that the Gringo she lives with is teaching her to drive his car, and he certified her for all three categories. She still has to do vision, blood, and psychiatric (supposedly today), but it's a done deal.
Like any US 17 year old with her first license, she's walking on clouds.
Some things are truly universal.

Well, not that universal. She got everything done, worst part was standing in bank lines.
BUT, no license in hand until she turns 18 in a month Big bummer, we'd been teasing her about showing her license to the horses, almost had her convinced that she might "fail" the blood test.

Nice to have someone young around, remember that wonderful naivete of a time when the only thing you had on your mind was a driver's license.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Originally Posted by Jonh

Take note, that 9.1% of the Nicaraguan economy is other countries' economies. In other words, Nicaragua itself has a shortfall of $1.2billion in its own economy, a gaping hole that shows that the country is still really a basket case propped up by people who gave up on it and skedaddled. That's not something to brag about.

I don't see it that way. Nicaragua is a poor country digging its way out of a debt load caused by a historically recent civil war & corrupt governance, but economically it's hardly a basket-case. Venezuela is a basket-case and Puerto Rico is fast becoming one. Nicas working abroad are an export that returns more than a billion dollars annually to the economy. Their sacrifices, what they send their loved ones, can greatly help the future prospects of their families and thus Nicaragua - exactly the opposite of giving up on it. Those people working in soulless industrial lands are very proud of their Nicaraguan roots, their Nicaraguan identities. For good reason.

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

$123 billion is removed from the US economy each year, and ultimately ends up in Asia from buying their goods, or OPEC nations for petroleum products. That's the equivalent of 4 Nicaraguan GDPs. Imagine if that money stayed in the United States spent locally by the people who earned it. Factories might not have to close or move to Mexico.

The Marxists like to claim that capitalism "rapes" undeveloped nations of their natural resources and gives nothing in return. Because of remittances, the underdeveloped nations are raping the US economy. In return, only 15% of Nicaragua's imports come from the US. (Valued at $964m, a net imbalance of $236m in Nicaragua's favor)

Re: Some Hope (but dope is still probably the best short-term answer)

Originally Posted by Jonh

Because of remittances, the underdeveloped nations are raping the US economy.

'Raping'? Dios mio! Most of those 'foreigners' sending dollars 'home' work hard for pitiful wages (below Fed min.) Their labor contributes far more to the US economy (as in, puts food on our plates) than they 'remit' to loved ones.

Originally Posted by Jonh

only 15% of Nicaragua's imports come from the US. (Valued at $964m, a net imbalance of $236m in Nicaragua's favor)